Interview with Dave Mustaine: Lead singer of Megadeth Special

Iconic heavy metal group Megadeth will soon embark on a world tour in more than 25 countries across four continents starting in April. This Digital Journalist spoke to lead singer Dave Mustaine about the band's future.

Megadeth is made up of Mustaine on vocals and guitars, Chris Broderick on guitars and backing vocals, David Ellefson on bass and background vocals, as well as Shawn Drover on drums, percussion and backing vocals.

They formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, California, and they have released 14 studio albums in their career, where their latest album Super Collider peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 all-genre charts. It was released on Mustaine's own label, Tradecraft, with a distribution on Universal Music Group. "It's a great feeling. We have always had a really great relationship with our fan-base," he said. "I have always wondered what it would be like to have a label that was owned by a metal guy. That was fun."

On the song selection process for Super Collider, he remarked, "When I do a record, it's a snapshot of my life at the time. When I was homeless my life was a lot different. Now I am married with kids and I have accomplished so many things in my life and that changes your perspective."

Mustaine is a featured soloist with San Diego Symphony on April 12. "The symphony itself is going to have two sections with an intermission in the middle. It's going to start with an orchestra by itself and in the first portion of the program and I am going to come out and play a little bit," he said. "We are going to have a couple of opportunities to meet the fans before the show and another private function for the donors of the charity event, which is a charity that the symphony supports. The basis for the whole event is to bring awareness to the younger people and our fan-base. The guitar that I am making is going to be donated to a silent auction."

Following his symphony performance, he will be embarking on a world tour with his band. "The world tour for us this year is probably one of the most balanced ones for us because we are going to be going to a lot of territories. It's going to be super-exciting," he said.

Mustaine added, "There is a lot that we have on the horizon with the San Diego Symphony. I have this opportunity to play classical music and we can really show people in the classical world a lot about what our genre is about, since the two audiences are really different. It's going to be fun to watch the two different worlds collide."

Megadeth has garnered 11 Grammy nominations in the "Best Metal Performance" categories and they have sold over 38 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling acts in the heavy metal genre.

On August 7, 2013, they were on their Gigantour and they played a sold-out show at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom. "That was fun," he said. "We love playing in the city."

Mustaine shared that he is drawn to the heavy metal genre of music due to the "people." "I love the way that it makes me feel and I love the way that it has given me the opportunities to meet with our fans as much as we do. We have so much in common and we have a lot to identify with," he said.

Although Mustaine is known for his unparalleled prowess on guitar, he noted that it was not the first instrument that he learned to play. "Believe it or not the first instrument I played was a piano, but it was hard to drag it to the beach to play by the campfire, so when the idea of the guitar came, it was a lot easier to travel," he revealed.

Regarding the key to longevity in the music industry, Mustaine stated, "It's all about being happy with what you do. When I get together with my band-mates, I am excited to see them."

For more information on Megadeth and their upcoming world tour dates, visit their official website.